Grant program strives to gear up Hawks for STEM-related careers
Pathways to STEM Careers (PSC) is a grant program aimed at developing programs to enhance support services at Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSI) for students who identify as Hispanic or for non-Hispanic low-income students in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) fields. In fall 2016, the U.S. Department of Education awarded the University of Houston-Clear Lake (UHCL) an HSI-STEM grant for more than $3.7 million to be distributed from 2016-2021.
With a little more than two years left to distribute the grant money, UHCL’s PSC program is ongoing for qualifying students interested in STEM or STEM-related fields.
“The grant supports 20 peer-mentors, up to 10 research assistants supervised by UHCL faculty and up to eight paid internship positions with local industry and high schools,” said Miguel Gonzalez, dean of UHCL’s College of Science and Engineering and professor of engineering.
The demand for people trained in STEM fields has increased as government and private industries have seen a decline in the number of individuals trained in STEM who are new to the job market. Today, 75% of the fastest-growing occupations require the use of skills in science and math.
In 2010, UHCL became one of 55 higher education institutions in Texas to classify as an HSI, after meeting the minimum criteria of having 25% of the full-time, undergraduate student population identify as Hispanic. Today, 35% of UHCL’s student population identify as Hispanic.
Since becoming an HSI, UHCL has implemented a few Hispanic-centric services and programs, including the grant-funded Pathways to STEM Careers.
“PSC helps support students because it provides them an avenue of support that they may not have had before,” says Randy Mendez, occupational safety and industrial hygiene major. “[PSC] has helped me by giving me the opportunity to work on campus in a capacity that benefits my career aspiration.”
With the grant money received from the U.S. Department of Education, students interested in entering STEM fields of study may successfully transfer from two-year institutions to four-year institutions by working with other HSI colleges in the area. Since the program is designed for students interested in STEM fields, the goal is to increase the program’s retention rate and the number of students graduating in STEM fields.
“The grant also conducts a yearly STEM Challenge, where participants from local high schools, community colleges and universities compete as teams,” Gonzalez said. “Winning teams will receive lucrative prizes, internship positions with local industry, and scholarships to attend UHCL.”
Another yearly activity funded by the grant is the Summer Bridge (also called College Connection). This activity is for new UHCL STEM majors to get better prepared for their first semester at UHCL and includes remedial math classes as well.
The PSC program provides professional development opportunities for college faculty and high school STEM teachers with a focus on learning how to be culturally responsive to the needs of the Hispanic community.
“Recently five proposals of UHCL faculty from different colleges were awarded a total of $21,000 from the PSC grant to conduct research on culturally responsive related subjects,” Gonzalez said. “The results of these research activities will provide innovative ways to be culturally responsive to the needs of the Hispanic community, and the results will be shared with the UHCL community.”
Gonzalez said the PSC grant should lead to other opportunities geared toward student success.
“One way is to publicize activities of the grant, and to leverage the grant to support the needs of the students,” Gonzalez said. “The other is to continue to work as a university community to provide a student success centered environment that welcomes and supports diversity. This grant provides tremendous support for that, and I am confident that the institution will continue to seek many other opportunities that leave a legacy like the PSC project.”
Students interested in participating in the various STEM programs funded by the grant must be enrolled at UHCL. They must also be pursuing a degree in a STEM field or be pursuing a teaching degree in a STEM field. Lastly, participants must be Hispanic/Latinx or reside in a lower-income household.
For more information, visit the PSC webpage on the UHCL website. To apply for the PSC program download and send in an application to psc@uhcl.edu.
